Charles Kaye Freshfield (11 March 1808 – 6 July 1891) was a 19th-century lawyer and Conservative Party Member of Parliament in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

. Freshfield was born in

Lothbury Lothbury is a short street in the City of London. It runs east–west with traffic flow in both directions, between Gresham Street's junction with Old Jewry and Coleman Street to the west, and Bartholomew Lane's junction with Throgmorton Stree ...

, London the son of James William Freshfield and his wife Mary Blacket. His father was a lawyer who established the firm of Freshfields. The family moved to Abney House near

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

and Charles Freshfield was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

. He qualified as a solicitor in 1834 and joined the family firm. He was Solicitor to the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

from 1840 to 1869 when he retired from Freshfields. During his time at Freshfields he was heavily involved with the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR (known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton)) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at ...

, until the latter got into financial difficulties in 1867. He was subsequently a Director of the

East Indian Railway Company The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

and the Ottoman

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

Railway. He lived at Hampstead and later at Upper Gatton Park,

Merstham Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 17 miles south of Charing Cross just beyond the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Merstham has ...

, Surrey, and also had a residence at 21 Half Moon Street. He became Member of Parliament for

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

in 1865. He lost his seat in 1868, but was re-elected in January 1874 and April 1880. He retired from parliament in 1885. Later, he settled in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

and lived for some years at Pennant Lodge in the north-west corner of Queen's Park. He was a member of the Council of

Brighton College Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18), Brighton Co ...

. At the time of his death he lived at Collingwood House on Marine Parade. On 7 October 1834 Freshfield married Elizabeth Sims Stephenson (1812–1849), only daughter of Daniel Stephenson, an Elder Brother of

Trinity House The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House (and formally as The Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity and of St Clement in the ...

. They had six children, but all but two daughters died young. Elizabeth also died early in 1849. His brothers John and Henry Freshfield were also active in the family legal firm. He was uncle to

Douglas Freshfield Douglas William Freshfield (27 April 1845 – 9 February 1934) was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the ''Alpine Journal ''from 1872 to 1880. He was president of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club. He was ...

, the travel writer, and cousin to

Edmund Blacket Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883) was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and Goulburn Cathedral (St. Saviour), St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulbu ...

, the Australian architect.

Legacy

When house-building began in the nearby Park Road East in Brighton in 1880–82, the road was renamed Freshfield Road in his honour. Three other streets in Brighton bear his name. Among his later Brighton homes was 9 Eastern Terrace, later to be briefly the home of King

Manuel II of Portugal Dom (title), Dom Manuel II (Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha e Bragança; 15 November 1889 – 2 July 1932), sometimes known as Manuel the Unfortunate () or ...

and in 2004 the most expensive house in the city.

References

* Judy Slinn A History of Freshfields, (1984) Freshfields

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freshfield, Charles 1808 births 1891 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School English solicitors Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dover